Paily Week fics!
by neurolingual
Summary: Consisting of days 2-7 of Paily week!
1. Day Two: I Know His Eyes Wander

**A/N: Hey guys! So, I'm home sick from school today, and I am wisely using this time to write/create some fics for Paily week! This is Day Two, and the prompt is "Paily + friendships". I've decided to compile the rest of the prompts in one 7-8 chapter story (day four will have two chapters). My first entry for Paily Week day one is called "**_**He's Not as Scary as He Looks**_**", and I have it uploaded to my fan fiction account. Check it out if you want to read that one also. As for this story, it will be slightly in-the-future told from Emily's point of view. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!**

**I Know His Eyes Wander**  
**Pairing**: Paige/Emily  
**Rating**: T  
**Words**: 1,413

"Em, seriously, you're bringing this up _again_?" Paige tosses her hands in the air incredulously. "We're just friends."

"I realize that Paige. I mean, obviously," I gesture between the two of us, "but still, he gives me a vibe. I don't like him."

"Seriously, Emily? Your basing judgment off of some stupid "vibe" he gives you? Unbelievable," her voice now rising above a shout. "Zane is my friend, Emily. Okay? Besides, he knows I'm gay. He's met you, for Christ's sake!"

"Paige-"

"No, Emily, I don't feel like hearing any more about this-"

"Have you seen the way he looks at you?" It's my turn to cut her off. "He stares at you like some sort of prize! When I dropped your coffee off last Saturday and came to see you, he was ogling your ass when you were on the latter!"

"He was not!" she shouts back at me.

"He was too!" I ball my hands into fists and she pinches the bridge of her nose, letting out an angry sigh before grabbing her keys from the counter and stepping out of my view.

"I'm going to the shelter. I'll be back at four. I hope you'll have a better attitude when I come back," she snaps without taking a second look in my direction. I open my mouth to retort but the sound of the door slamming stops me. I sigh in defeat and rub my temples.

It's not that I don't trust Paige, because I do. It's _him_ I don't trust. It's _Zane_.

When Paige and I moved to New York six months ago, she had desperately sought out to volunteer at the nearby homeless shelter. Bless her heart for being so caring. It astonishes me how easily she'd give up her free time to help those in need. Everyone she works with adores her; I mean, who could blame them? She is adorable in every sense of the way: charming, friendly, outright beautiful.

But, some people adore her _too _much.

When Paige first mentioned Zane a couple months back, I thought nothing of it. She told me that he knew she was gay (we decided on telling any future employers/coworkers/employees immediately when asked), and I was truly happy that she was making new friends. Soon, they started hanging out with each other outside of work, and to say I was jealous was _probably _an understatement. It was strange; someone new and exciting had taken an interest in Paige's life, and I started feeling upset when she would talk about him, feeling like I was being left out of all the fun things they would do together. I would make snide comments under my breath about him, and she would sometimes catch them, but she chose to ignore them. One day, she had finally had enough of my antics and flat out asked me what my deal was, and why I had such a problem with Zane.

At the time, I really didn't have a straight forward answer.

But now, _**now **_I have a reason to truly despise him for the creepy creature that he is.

Whenever the two of them are together, Zane is always close, _too close_, and not in the protective friend way. His touch lingers; whether it is on her shoulders, arms, or hips after he's held her steady. If you watch Zane when he's talking to Paige, you can see his eyes travel blatantly across her body and end directly on her chest.

And the worst part? **Paige is completely oblivious to it all**! She denies ever noticing how he touches her, _where_ he touches her. He's come so dangerously close to areas only _I'm _allowed to touch, I've seriously considered breaking his fingers.

Opening my mouth to say something to her about it in the first place was probably a bad idea, but I wasn't going to just stand around while some creep practically undresses my girlfriend with his eyes. But, since she easily irritated on the subject of Zane whenever I bring it up, she basically tunes me out and doesn't listen to a word I say.

She'll learn soon enough though, that I'm not joking, and I cannot wait to say _I_ _told you so_.

* * *

The hot water from the shower beats down against my skin as I replay our fight from this morning over in my mind. I may have been a little too harsh on Paige, and vice-verse, but it had to be done. I had to get my point across.

"Em?" I faintly hear my name being called from outside of the bathroom door. It's four already? I guess time flies when you're angry. "Emily?" I stay quiet, hoping to avoid a confrontation during the 15 minute shower of peace that will probably be my only chance to unwind.

I hear the bathroom door open and shut, followed by the sound of clothes dropping to the floor. I hear the shower door open, letting some of the steam out. Truthfully, I want to spin around and melt into Paige's arms, but I wanted her to think I was still angry and that I wouldn't give up so easily.

She clears her throat and I cock my head to the side, just enough to see her from the corner of my eyes. She has her arms across her chest and her head bowed down, with what seems like tear-stained cheeks. My facade drops quickly as I spin around to face her, my hands cupping her cheeks and forcing her to look at me.

"Baby? What's wron-"

"You were right," she says in monotone. I stare at her unsure for a moment, and then it hits me as I watch her eyes trail all around the shower, all around the floor, and she's frantically searching for _anywhere _to look but in my eyes, knowing she'll spot my internal cheer of victory in them.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do, Emily. I can practically _hear _the smirk in your voice," she sighs and looks at me in the eyes sadly, melting my heart. I pull her flush against my body and let the hot water surround us, lightly stroking circles on the small of her back with the tips of my fingers.

"What happened?" I asked with general concerned laced in my voice. Internally, my mind was in a frenzied rage, not knowing what this pervert did to my girlfriend. But, it was enough to make her cry, and I was beyond thinking about asking him politely to leave her be. Now, all I could think about is taking a sledgehammer to his perfectly chiseled jaw.

"He..." Paige mumbled into the crook of my neck before pulling away. "We... we were unloading a new shipment of donated clothes from my truck that I had just picked up. I tripped on the curb walking back over to the truck bed and he grabbed my hips to keep me from falling. We laughed about it and I hadn't noticed his hands slipping into my back pockets until I felt a squeeze. I started panicking but before I could do anything he spun me around... and..."

"And what, Paige?" The concern in my voice now replaced with seething anger. '_I'm going to rip this guy a new one_'.

"...kissed me," she said, slamming her eyes shut. My heart dropped into my stomach and I stared at her with a blank expression. If I was feeling rage before, it's nothing compared to what I feel now. I could see the panic in her eyes as she tried to console me. "Emily! I swear I shoved him away! I didn't let him do anything, I swear! Emily, you have to believe me! I punched him right in the gut afterwards! Em, please don't hate me..."

I stared at her curiously for a moment before a small smirk tugged at my lips. "You punched him?"

Paige nodded frantically.

I gently cupped her cheek and pulled her in to place a lingering kiss on her forehead to tell her that it was "_okay_", and that I forgave her. I knew she didn't do anything wrong.

"I should have listened to you," she said quietly. I resisted the urge to just boldly say _I told you so _and dance in victory, due to the disheveled state she was in, but I couldn't help myself from letting something come out of my mouth.

"Yeah, you should have."


	2. Day Three: Suction

**A/N: Welcome to Day Three of Paily week everyone! I decided on being humorous and write something that could tickle you funny bones, although probably not because I usually find sarcasm funny, but there's none in here. Anyway, this is posted late because while I was writing this, and idea for another story sparked in my mind, and I was writing that. I'll probably have the first chapter of that up soon for your enjoyment. It's also a Paily story, and I like the way it plays out so far. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and stick around for tomorrow for the special two-part story i have planned! And thank you for all the lovely feedback I've been receiving, it's so sweet that you;re taking the time out of your day to read my stories. Let me know what you think, and enjoy the rest of Day 3 of Paily Week!**

* * *

**Suction**

**Pairing:** Paige/Emily

**Prompt: **Punk!Paige and Nerd!Emily

**Rating: **T+ (is that even real? i don't know.)

**Words:** 1,781

I never understood my attraction for Paige McCullers. _Never_. She was always dressed in dark colors, she never spoke to me unless it was absolutely urgent (which was close to never); in fact, the only time Paige McCullers actually spoke to me was when I hit her with my locker door accidentally, causing in her to become angry and slam the large textbooks from my hand onto the floor. She was constantly rude to everyone around her, and she treated everyone around her like low class citizens.

How someone can live life that way, I don't know. Always angry, always irritated, always controlling? Sometimes, she could use a second to relax.

I have my hands full, too, but I never acted out like that.

Captain of the Physics Club, tutoring after school, and president of the Student Government, my schedule was jam packed with extracurricular activities to keep me busy. The stress could easily get to me, but I would never think to take my frustration out the way she does.

Actually, I don't ever recall Paige doing any activities outside of school. Even in school, she does nothing; she sleeps every class period, and when she's not sleeping, she's either writing in her journal, listening to music, or both, while simultaneously gazing out of the classroom windows.

What's going on in her mind? It must be something interesting, more interesting that the history lecture that we're receiving right now, that she's paying absolutely no attention to. I roll my eyes and turn my attention back to the teacher in the front of the room; intent on copying every last word down for my notes so studying will be a breeze for when I get home.

When the bell rings, I do not notice the piece of paper lying down on the edge of my desk until I look up from putting my stuff in my backpack. I take a chance and look over to Paige's desk, frowning slightly when I see she's not there anymore. I turn my attention back to the note, opening and glancing over the familiar script writing. My nerves become jumbled as I read:

_"Janitor's closet after class. Hurry." _My heart drops into my stomach as my excitement gets the better of me; I rush out of the door without a second look at the assignment. I know I should care, but right now, I don't.

Carelessly stuffing my things into my locker, I head into the girls bathroom, waiting for the late bell to ring before I continue on. As it rings, I step from the stall and give myself one last once-over, straightening out my argyle sweater and the glasses sitting on the bridge of my nose, applying a fresh coat of lip gloss and taking a few deep breaths before pushing the bathroom door open and carefully making my way towards the closet, hoping no one spots me as I slip into the dark room.

"Hello?" I quietly whisper out, wanting to make sure I actually have the right closet. This is usually the one we meet at, but I don't sense anyone else in here with me. Frowning, I turn back to the door and reach for the handle, but suddenly, a strong arm covered by a leather jacket wraps around my waist, a cold hand clamping down against my mouth to keep me from shout, and spin me around.

Needless to say I'm having a heart attack. I can't see who it is, but as the fear leaves my system, I sense the light, familiar grasp on my hip and the soft the fingers trailing down my neck to join its partner on the opposite hip.

"Jesus, babe, you scared the crap out of me. You're lucky I just went to the bathroom," I breathe out shakily.

She laughs, her cheerful sound filling my ears and I can't help but smile. She steps close to me, and I can finally make out her features: soft cheeks and warm, brown eyes, with the tint of ember encircling the outer ring of her irises. The way her eyes crinkle as she smiles back at me, and the unbelievable feeling of velvet of her lips when they press against my own in a soft, gentle kiss.

"You need to stop staring at me in class," she sighs, kissing the corner of my mouth and moving down to trail kisses against my neck. I crane my head upwards, allowing her to kiss my up to my chin and connect out lips once more. She pulls away just to rest her forehead against my own. "You're going to give us away."

"I… was not… staring…" I struggle as I feel her cold hands slip under the waistband of my skirt and grab at my backside firmly, massaging the muscles that lie there.

"Em, you were practically ogling me," she snorts.

"I was not ogling, I was _judging_."

"That's the same thing…"

"It wasn't the good kind of judging, trust me," I smile coyly and trail my hands under the fabric of her shirt, taking ahold of her breasts with the palm of my hands and massaging them lightly, earning a low moan from her lips that I quickly capture in a heated kiss. My sudden boldness takes her by surprise and she fumbles slightly, yanking her hands from my skirt and ripping her jacket of her body, tossing it carelessly to the side. She forcefully grabs my face and pulls me closer, our lips pushed so close together our teeth cling against each other.

"Good," she breathes as she slips her tongue from my mouth. "Now, seriously, hurry up and get naked, I'm tired of having to look at you all day and not be able to touch you."

"Well," I said as I step back, pulling my sweater over my shoulders and stepping up of my skirt, "you could, you know."

"Emily," she says sternly, now standing before me in her underwear and bra as well. "Not now." She grabs my waist and pulls her hips against mine. Threading my hands in her hair, I pull our faces together and bit down on her bottom lip, teasing her as I kiss across her neck as I release her lip and bite down on her pulse point. She lets out a low moan. "Emily…"

"Paige, lay down," I say aggressively. Paige is shocked by my boldness, but happily obliges, pulling me on top of her forcefully, smashing out lips together. My hands wander from her shoulders to her abdomen, down to her hips, where I teasingly trail my fingers across the thin fabric of the waistband, dipping my hand low to feel the wetness pooling at her center. Without warning she flips us over, my body slamming down onto the linoleum floor. Suddenly, my movements stop and I feel a slight suction on my butt.

"What are you doing to my ass?" I question, a horrified look across my face. Paige looks up from her assault on my now-exposed chest to look up curiously into my eyes.

"Uhm, what are you talking about?"

"My ass, my ass, what are you doing to it? I don't like it, stop," I'm squirming around underneath her now, trying to get away. She pulls back on her knees, hold up her hands to show me that she's not touch me anywhere. My eyes widen in fear as I roll over, trying to see what happening down there, but the limited light source is making it difficult.

"Oh… my god…" she says, and then erupting into loud laughter, the sound usually would be sweet if I wasn't going into full on panic.

"Paige? Paige, what is it? This isn't funny!"

"You've… you've got…" she tries to say, but it's cut off as she continues to laugh.

"What?!"

"A… plunger… is stuck… to your ass…" Paige is basically crying from the laughter now. My cheeks flush a dark crimson as I reach down and tug at the thing, but it won't budge.

"It's stuck!" I whisper-shout. I yank mercilessly for a few moments as Paige watches in amusement. After watching me fumble with it for long enough, she takes hold and yanks it off, the sudden pressure release creating a loud **_pop_** that echoes in the small room. I rub a hand over the mark so sooth it, while Paige still tries to hold in the aftershocks of giggles.

"Okay, I'm sorry Emily, for laughing, but that was hilarious."

"No, it wasn't," I mumble, sitting up and crossing my arms across my chest. She places a soothing hand on my shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly before leaning over and placing a kiss to my forehead. My eyes close and I take in the situation and chuckle to myself, before it turns into a loud giggle. "Okay, yeah, it was."

"I don't know about you, but pulling a plunger from your butt has pretty much killed my sex drive," she says and stands up, offering me a hand to help me up, which I take graciously. The two of us dress in silence before she turns back to me with a peculiar expression on her face.

"What?" I say, blushing under her gaze and re-situating my glasses on the bridge of my nose.

"What are you doing tonight?" she asks hopefully.

"I… I don't… I don't know. Why?" I'm taken aback by her question, my imagination getting the better of me as I think of all the possibilities.

She shrugs. "Just wondering." She gives me a playful smile. My heart sinks. I was honestly hoping that she'd want to hang out or something like that this time, but she never does. She steps forward and presses a soft kiss to my lips before pulling away. "Although, it would be wise for you to keep your windows _unlocked,_ just in case, oh, I don't know, a stranger wants to come in and watch a movie with you… or something," she coughs nervously, and I can see the blush creeping onto her cheeks. My heart swells with happiness as I grab the back of her neck and pull her in for a kiss.

As we break apart, I glance down at the two of our bodies pressed close together. Out in the hallways at school, people see us as two completely different people. And I could understand why. Even I couldn't understand why I was attracted to Paige McCullers and her rugged exterior. Maybe it's because we secretly share moments like this that I cherish with all my heart.

"Yeah, I'll leave my windows unlocked so I can watch a movie with a stranger… or something."


	3. Day Four, Chapter One: Emily

**A/N: This is the longest thing I've written for Paily Week so far, and I'm really proud of it. I wanted to relay all the important things that I think would have been cool for Emily's past and how she tried to deal with it all, like being young and her dad being away, and they scary time period when you figure out your feelings. I love this chapter so much. In a few hours, I'll have up Paige's chapter, which will most likely be a little more violent and detailed. I just have to finish going over a few paragraphs and revising everything. Until then, please in enjoy Chapter One of Day Four, the prompt being "**_**Backstories". **_**Let me know what you think, and I'll see you in a few hours.**

* * *

**Chapter One: Emily**

**Raiting: **K+

**Words: **3,866

Truthfully, Emily never thought she would ever be in the positions that she is in today. Although life seems to be easy for Emily in general now, she did a fantastic job of putting on a façade when she was younger, fooling everyone into thinking she was okay, when in reality, her confusing emotions were getting the better of her.

Emily slowly paces her room, making sure she's collected everything she needs to take to college with her. Once she gives her room a good look-over, she returns to the open package on her bed, filled with little things like knick-knacks, posters, and pictures to decorate her dorm room with. A small smile spreads onto her face as she picks up a few picture frames from her box, letting the memories flood back into her mind.

The first picture she examines is one of herself back in the fourth grade: she was covered in dirt, a tooth missing, and a slightly-shorter dark haired girl stood next to her, who was also covered in a mass amount of dirt, although she was too busy playing with the worms in their mud pie to even bother looking at the camera for a picture. It's strange, Emily thinks to herself, how much Aria has grown from that little girl she sees back in the picture.

Emily had met Aria on the first day of school in fourth grade. Emily had just moved to Rosewood after living in California her entire life. After months of protests that were ignored by her parents, Emily finally gave in; knowing that because of her father's occupation, it wasn't a choice to move to Rosewood (although looking back on it now, Emily never understood why her she hated her father's job). Begrudgingly, Emily packed up her bedroom, along with all her memories, said goodbye to her friends, and hopped on plane to Rosewood, Pennsylvania, where she would start her new life in a small town. First arriving it Rosewood, the immense change shocked Emily. She never realized how fast talk could travel in a small town, what with having lived in a large city the majority of her ten-year-old life. It was a tightly-knit community, where everyone knew everyone and secrets were a rare thing.

Entering class on her first day, Emily kept to herself. When she introduced herself to the class, she spoke so softly that almost no one heard what she said. During arts and crafts, she sat alone in the corner, making a Popsicle stick family of her, her mom and her dad, in silence. Well, it _was _in silence, until someone skipped over to the edge of her table.

"Hi, Emily," the little girl smiles brightly, "I'm Aria. I like your bracelet," she says, pointing to the colorfully woven bracelet on Emily's arm that her mother made for her last summer.

"Thanks, my mom made it for me," she replied quietly.

Aria nodded. "My mom made me sandwich one time, but it didn't taste good. She put ketchup on it instead up mustard, and it made the ham taste all slimy." She giggled.

And that was the first time Emily smiled since moving to Rosewood.

Aria and Emily became best friends; they built sandcastles during recess, painted together in art class, and talked about how obvious it that Sean Ackard had cooties, and no matter how hard he tried to deny it, once you had cooties you could never get rid of them. The two girls spent all their time together, and when Aria came over to Emily's to spend the night for the first time, the little girl was shocked when she saw that it was only Emily's mom there with them.

"Where's your dad?" Aria asked curiously when the two girls were coloring at the kitchen table.

"Oh he's… gone," Emily grimaced slightly.

"Gone? Gone where?"

"My mom said he's out fighting to keep me and the country safe. He's at a base in Texas right now. We don't get to see him much," she sighed, looking out the window sadly.

Aria could sense Emily's sadness. "Sometimes, it's hard to be away from people you love a lot, but when you see them again, it makes it so much better when they're around you that it feels like they never left at all. My mommy used to tell me whenever my dad left town for business trips and when I'd miss him a lot that 'absence makes the heart grow stronger'."

Emily quirked an eyebrow. "What does that even mean?"

Aria shrugged. "I don't know, but it seemed like she was so proud of it that I never wanted to ruin it for her by asking." The two girls laughed and continued coloring, Emily giving Aria a small, thankful smile, to which Aria nodded back in understanding.

* * *

Emily smiled at the memory, putting the picture frame down and picking up the next one, which was a picture of her, Spencer, Hanna, Aria and Alison at Emily's swimming competition, holding up Emily's first place trophy that she won in seventh grade.

When it came time to transition into middle school, Emily and Aria were beyond nervous. They didn't enjoy the idea that, not only would kids from their school be attending the middle school, but people that had never met before were going to be there, too. They linked arms walking into first period together, taking two seats near the back wall of the classroom. The two chatted amongst themselves about how nervous and excited they were, before they were interrupted by a very loud argument between to other girls who walked in the room.

"Hanna, that doesn't even make sense. People can go out into the sun and photosynthesize. It's impossible," the brown-eyed girl stated in annoyance.

"Of it does, Spencer," the chubby blonde threw her hands into the air, "humans need the sun as much as the plants do!"

"Yeah, but we can't make our own nutrients. We don't have chloroplast in our cells that would even-" Spencer stopped suddenly, looking at Emily and Aria with irritation. "You're in our seats."

"Excuse me?" Aria asked, sharing a quizzical look with Emily before returning her attention to an fuming Spencer. "What do you mean _your seats_?"

"I came to orientation yesterday and I reserved those two seats for Hanna and I."

"Uh," Emily chuckled in disbelief, "I don't think you can reserve seats in class."

"Well, I did, so move."

"Spencer," Hanna reached out and touched her arm gently, "it's no big deal, we can just sit-"

"Yes it is a big deal! I don't think you understand the struggle I went through just to get the teacher to agree with me that reserving seats for the two of us would be a good idea."

"Well, maybe you should've put nametags down so no one would've sat here," Emily inquired humorously, earning a hearty laugh from everyone except Spencer, who looked like she was about ten seconds from strangling her.

"I like you. Hi, I'm Hanna Marin," she shook Emily and Aria's hands and smiled politely. "This is Spencer Hastings," she gestured to the girl standing next to her.

"Hi," Aria smiled back, "I'm Aria Montgomery, and this is my friend Emily Fields. If you guys really want these seats, Emily and I wouldn't mind moving."

Spencer opened her mouth to say something, but Hanna cut her off quickly. "No, it's totally fine. We'll just sit right here. We have to save Alison a seat anyway," Hanna said, taking a seat adjacent from Emily, placing her stuff in the desk in front of Spencer.

"Alison?" Emily asked.

"Alison DiLaurentis," Spencer replied sharply.

"Who's she?"

"She went to the same elementary school as me and Spence. She's really cool. You guys will like her," Hanna said.

"You're right, I am really cool," a voice said from behind them, bringing everyone's attention back to its owner. Emily took one look at the girl, and a weird feeling passed through her body that she hand never experienced before.

She looked to be slightly the same height as Aria, with platinum blonde hair and piercing gray-blue eyes. Her lips curled into a devious smile as she stepped forward, taking her seat in front of Spencer, handing back her things and turning her attention to Emily and Aria. Emily held her gaze and felt the breath catch in her throat. '_What's going on?_' Emily thought to herself. She shifted uncomfortably under Alison's gaze, and she could swear she could a smirk of victory creep onto her lips.

"I'm Alison," she said in a calm voice.

"Hi, I'm Aria," she said cheerfully, "Wow; I really love your earrings!"

"I was hoping someone would notice them. I just got them yesterday and practically had to wrestle a girl down in the store just to buy them," Alison turned her attention back to Emily, who was looking down at the ground. "What's your name?"

"Emily," she said in a squeaky voice. Aria raised an eyebrow at her, but Emily chose to ignore it.

"Hey, Emily, look at me," Alison said softly. Emily slowly lifted her head and locked eyes with Alison, who gave her a heart melting smile. "You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen."

Emily could feel the immense rushing to her cheeks, mumbling a small "thanks" before ducking her head once more. What was happening to her? She wasn't able to understand what was happening to her body right now and why heart was thumping so loudly in her chest. As the other four girls began to continue conversation, Emily noticed Hanna continuously looking back at her.

"Em, are you okay?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah, it's just…" she tried to choose her words carefully, "…Alison is really intimidating."

Hanna gave her a radiating smile. "Oh, yeah, she totally is. But once you get to know her, she's so much fun. Don't even think about her intimidation. I don't let it get to me anymore, and know me, her and Spencer are like three peas in a pod!"

After the first few months of sixth grade, all five girls became best friends. Emily and Spencer bonded on the fact that they loved good competition, with Spencer being on the field hockey team and Emily on the swim team. She found a more quirkiness to Hanna that really seemed to cheer her up whenever she was down. And whenever she thought of just being able to stand next to Alison, her heart did a little backflip inside her chest.

As the five of them moved through the middle schools, Emily saw her four friends dating boys and talking about boys, but Emily never felt comfortable. She always felt out of place when it came to talking about boys with her friends, or when they would ask her if she thought any of the boys were cute, she would usually just shrug and say no one has caught her attention yet. In seventh grade, when Alison introduced a boy named Ben to Emily, she thought things would be different. Ben seemed to really like Emily, and she believed the feeling was mutual. Then, one day, after Ben walked Emily home from school, he kissed her. It wasn't anything major, just a slow kiss on the lips. But something about it didn't feel quite right to Emily. She'd always imagined that when you kissed someone, there would be sparks and fireworks and doves that flew around.

Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but the kiss still felt strange. It felt… almost fake. And Emily couldn't help but notice that things she was supposed to be feeling for Ben, she saw herself feeling for Alison. Like the way Alison's touch would linger on her arm, or when she pulled Emily's hair behind her ears and smiled warmly at her. Emily could only imagine what it felt like to kiss Alison.

Soon, her feelings for Alison became almost scary, to the point that Emily would sit awake at night and think until her brain would _actually_ start to hurt. She's heard of gay people before, but she's never met one in real life; plus, she's every only heard about it when people talk about two men, so it was strange when she thought about the possibility of two girls being in love with each other. She did her research, and for a while, she kind of drew away from her friends, just because she was afraid of her own feelings.

* * *

She shivered, closing her eyes and shaking her head, remembering back to the time when she was first coming out to herself, and how scary that had been. Emily wiped the small tear from the corner of her eye and moved onto the next picture, which was of her and Maya, sitting down with the three other girls at the park. In the picture, Emily and Maya sat extremely close together, the hand they both had placed on the bench grazing at the fingers. It brought back the memories of being able to be honest and open with about herself with the one person at that time that was able to reciprocate her feelings, and not judge her for it.

Maya had been eye opening for Emily in a way in which she was able to come to terms with her sexuality and realize that it was okay for her to feel these things and that it wasn't wrong, or it wasn't an abomination that she had feelings for someone of the same gender. Sure, a large part of their relationship, Emily had been so deep in the closet that she could have used the help of the Jaws of Life to pull her out, but Maya had been patient with her. She had understood the fact that Emily had never been able to experience something like love before, because of the way Emily had been raised.

Emily remembered back when Maya had first kissed her in the photo booth at Noel Kahn's party, and how Maya's lips just felt _so right_ against hers. The kiss had initially scared Emily, but never regretted it. It opened up so many doors in her mind that she would have never thought to have been possible had she stayed with Ben. And when she fell in love with Maya, her entire world changed. She had become secretive with her mother, something she would never think to do now. Emily's mother thought her daughter was becoming an entirely different person. When Emily did eventually come out to her mother, father and her friends, she was so relieved that she could stop living a lie and finally try and be happy. Although, the uneasiness with her mother continued on for many months as she struggled to accept her daughter's sexuality, it didn't stop her from loving Maya.

And when she died, Emily's entire world fell apart.

It was all too fast, too soon. Maya had just come back into her life and she was rightfully _happy_. They were happy. Together. And when she was suddenly ripped away, Emily didn't know what to do with herself.

She spent the entire first month crying. She cried in the shower, cried in the bathrooms at school, and she would even cry herself to sleep at night. Her grades began to drop, and she stopped showing up for swim practice. Emily even started to lose weight, because the thought of eating without Maya made her physically sick. The next few months, she spent partying. She knew it wasn't good for her to do. Emily did things that she wasn't proud of and that she could never take back. She drank herself into a deep depression that would only worsen with time.

When she finally had to come back to Rosewood, the first night she saw the girls again she drank until she was numb. She didn't want to feel what she was feeling anymore. But when she woke up and realized that she was outside of Alison's grave, her body dug up and missing, and she was _still_ drunk from hours and hours before, it terrified her. She has yet to ever take a sip of alcohol again out of fear of ending up that way again.

* * *

She picked up the final picture frame in the box and smiled brightly. It was a picture of her and Paige on the swing-set after swim practice one day. Hanna had taken a picture of them from across the street, saying "it was so über-adorable, that it would've been a crime _not _to take a picture". She remembers that day so well.

Emily was having a particularly bad day. She was stressing out over the massive Calculus test that she felt she did poorly on, and it was bothering her so badly it affected her swim times, prompting coach not to anchor her for that weekend's swim meet. Paige saw the tension in her girlfriend, so she asked Emily if she could walk her home that day. Emily agreed thinking spending some time with Paige would take her mind off of the terrible day she was having. Boy was she right.

At that time, Paige and Emily had been dating for seven months. Emily was completely taken back by how much her girlfriend had changed from the first time Paige surprise-kissed her after a swim meet. Emily tried to get Paige to talk about what happened, but Paige had been so frightened that she tried driving Emily away. But when they started a relationship, Emily felt that maybe things would be good for once. But Paige never wanted to be seen alone with her in public out of fear, and it drove Emily mad. She wished she didn't have to, but she ended it with Paige to spare her own feelings. And once Paige came back into her life all that time later, Emily was more than ready to try again. Her relationship with Paige had been stronger than her relationship with Maya, and it took Emily by surprise how hard she fell for her.

That day at the playground, Paige pushed Emily on the swings, built a sand castle together, and even solved one of those rotating plastic puzzles with the picture of the animals. It felt so childish, but it also felt really good. The entire time she felt like a kid again, laughing at the little jokes Paige would make or the faux-angry expressions she made at Emily when she had knocked over Paige's well-built sandcastle on accident. Paige then told Emily to wait at the playground and that she'd be back in no more than ten minutes. Confused, Emily stayed there, waiting for her girlfriend to return, and when she did; she came back bearing fruit of the Gods.

More like frozen yogurt of the Gods, but it was so delicious that Emily immediately beamed when she took her first bite.

"Paige, this is so good! Seriously, the entire time we've been here has been amazing. I've never had so much fun in my entire life," Emily said, taking another generous spoonful of frozen yogurt.

"You're welcome," Paige smiled warmly, leaning over to place a slow kiss on Emily's forehead.

And that's when it hit Emily full force.

She slowly opened her eyes to look into Paige's chocolate brown orbs, trying not to melt completely. She knew that she had been in love with Paige for a while, but she never had the nerve to tell the other girl how she truly felt. Emily thought that maybe Paige would run away if she tried dropping the bomb on her, but it seemed like Paige had tried showing Emily that she would never run away from her by the little things she would do for Emily just to see her smile.

Emily licked her lips, wiping away any leftover frozen yogurt on her lips and looked at Paige with a serious face. She reached over and tucked a stray piece of hair back behind Paige's ear, scooting her body a little closer. She searched Paige's eyes for a few moments, gathering the courage and telling herself that it was okay to feel this way and that she shouldn't be afraid.

"I love you," Emily said softly. It was the first time either of them said those words. Paige's eyes widened in shock. Emily thought that she'd messed up big time. She started to look away, but then she felt Paige cup her cheek and turn her face back towards her, leaning in to place a tender kiss on her lips. She felt Paige slightly part her lips, taking Emily's bottom lip between hers and sucking lightly. A few minutes later, Paige broke away from the sweet kiss, resting her forehead against Emily's and looking into her eyes.

"I love you too, Emily."

"Babe, are you ready?" a voice breaks Emily's train of thought as she places the picture's back into the box, making sure that the one of Paige and her was on top. She heard footsteps come barreling up the stairs and stop just outside her door. "Emily? Are you okay? Why are you crying?" Paige asked, her voice full of concern, and stepped closer to Emily, wrapping her arms tightly around her and smoothing her long dark hair.

Emily nodded slowly. "I'm just going through my things and I was reminiscing. Don't worry, I'll be fine," she pulled away to look Paige in the eyes. "I wish you were coming with me," she said sadly.

Paige smiled softly, kissing Emily on the forehead. "I know, baby. But, I'll only be a few states away at Michigan. You're going to love Penn State."

"It won't be the same without you…"

"Em, you're making me sad. I'm trying to stay happy for you!"

"I know, I know."

"Hey, look at me," Paige puts two fingers under Emily's chin, angling her face towards her own. "It's only a few months until we see each other again. You're going to Skype me every day and tell me all the wonderful things happening to you at Penn State and all the new friends you'll be making. And Hanna is going to be with you, so don't worry about being bored. Okay?" Paige kissed her on the lips quickly, grabbing Emily's box from the bed and quickly taping it. "I have a plane to catch, and you're going to make me late, you goof! Let's go!" She marched out of the room.

Emily laughed and shook her head, following her girlfriend down the stairs and into her car, Paige sitting next to her and both their parents & the girls following them in the cars behind. She intertwined her fingers with Paige, placing a kiss on her knuckles before starting up her engine, leading the small brigade of cars with her to the Philly airport, where she would drop Paige off, only to be seeing her again in a few months' time.

Her heart swelled with happiness as she took in her situation, and how it took her so long to get to this incredibly happy place.

'_It was so worth it._'


	4. Day Four, Chapter Two: Paige

**A/N: First off, I want to apologize for the lack of content and that I haven't updated since Friday. I wanted to have this up and posted, but I wanted to do it justice, seeing how this story was more emotional than the last chapter. I wanted to express myself, kind of, in the way that I wrote Paige in this story, because Paige McCullers is **_**me**_**. I can see myself in Paige McCullers, and so I wrote a little bit of what I struggled with and am still struggling with, as I am in that stage where I've come out to myself but to no one else than a few people, and my family is exactly the same as the way I wrote Paige's family to be in this story. I apologize if this story really gets to you, because it was very hard for me to write. But, look forward to tomorrow, as I will most likely have stories posted for day five and six, and seven also if I have the time. If not, expect the next two days to have the promts written and published. Let me know what you think, and I'll see you guys tomorrow. –Amanda**

* * *

**Chapter Two: Paige**

**Rating: **M (triggering)

**Words**: 4,813

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

Paige pulled her gaze from her book, _The Alchemist_, to look at an older woman, probably in her late 60s, standing in the middle of the isle, looking at Paige with a small smile on her face.

"Not at all," Paige smiled back, watching as the woman took a seat next to her. She peered out of her window, watching as the people filed onto the train, each getting their tickets checked and hastily making their way to an open seat.

"How do you like the book?" the woman asked.

Her voice shook Paige from her zoned-out state of mind as she turned her head around to face her. "Pardon?"

"I asked how you liked the book," she pointed to the paperback closed in Paige's lap. She looks down and smiles again.

"It's not so bad. I mean, my girlfriend only sent it to me a few days ago, and this train ride is the only free time I'll have for a while, so I'm going to make good use of it."

"It's a lovely book, really. My son bought it for me when it first came out. That may be my favorite book that has ever been written."

"Really?"

"Of course," the woman smiled again. She held out her hand for Paige to shake. "I'm Dorothea."

"Paige," she said, gently shaking the woman's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise. So, what are you headed Pennsylvania for? Has summer break started for you yet?"

Paige nodded. "Yeah, I'm headed back to Rosewood. If from there, but I go to school here at Michigan State."

Dorothea's eyes widened. "You're from Rosewood? I've heard some strange things about that place…"

"I bet nine out of ten of those things are actually true," she chuckled. Dorothea shook her head in amusement.

"And your girlfriend? Is she from Rosewood, too?"

"Yes. We actually met back in high school. But, she doesn't have to travel far. She received a full ride to Penn State on a swimming scholarship."

"Wow, she seems smart."

Paige smiles brightly. "She is."

"Well, Paige, it was nice chatting with you, but I think I'm going take this opportunity to get some shut eye. I'll see you in a few hours," Dorothea says.

"Sleep well." Paige opens up her book and opens up the front flap, tracing over Emily's script writing on the inside cover.

'_Paige, read this book when you start missing me so much it becomes unbearable. I love you._

_-Emily"_

She smiled lightly, her heart racing with excitement. In 19 hours, Paige would finally be reunited with Emily after months of being apart. They had planned on spending Christmas together this year, but Paige got caught up in her Neurobiology term paper, and wasn't able to come visit not only Emily, but her own family as well. Even though they opened presents together over Skype, it still didn't feel like enough for Paige. It was more of a cop-out. Nothing felt quite like being in the same room as Emily Fields.

Staring out of the window, Paige watches as the train leaves the station, the trees starting to rush by even faster as the train picks up speed, until it is almost a complete blur of different shades of green and the splash of brown here and there. She closes her eyes, letting her mind wander back to Emily. Emily: whose long dark hair blows ever so slightly with even the smallest breeze; whose skin gives off the faint smell of lavender that is almost undetectable unless you're intimately close; whose chocolate-brown eyes seem to melt away every time Paige looks into them.

It doesn't seem real sometimes to Paige that Emily has stuck by her side for all of these years. They both only had semester left before they graduated from the respective colleges, and soon they would be sharing an apartment together in Chicago, where Emily planned on using her studies in business and social psychology to open up a coffee shop in the city. Paige was planning on branching off into medical school, where she would then study her way to become a neurosurgeon.

Paige can remember back to the times when she was younger, where none of this seemed remotely possible for her to achieve, even in her dreams.

* * *

"Dad, why is the sky blue?"

"Because that's how God created it, Paige. Now, stop asking questions and finish your broccoli."

Paige scowled. She thought for sure that this would be a good enough distraction for her dad that she could slip the vegetables off her plate so that Skipper could eat them instead. She whipped her head around to the Great Dane who was lying behind the sofa, mouthing "_I'm sorry_", before turning around and stuffing her mouth full of broccoli. She swallowed, a grimace immediately appearing on her face as she reached for her water to wash it down.

Excusing herself from the table, Paige placed her dishes in the sink before telling her father that she was going out for a bike ride. He told her to make sure she came back in time for prayers at seven-thirty so that she would have enough time to shower and get ready for bed. Opening the shed door, she pulled out her bike and pedaled down the sidewalk.

After about ten minutes, Paige arrived at the main drag in the center of Rosewood. She looked both ways before she pedaled across the street and down the road to the large park on the other side of town. When she got there, most of the swings were taken, so she settled on building a sand castle instead. Almost immediately, Paige sensed someone walking towards her as she began digging her moat.

"I thought I told you not to come here anymore, McCullers," Noel Kahn growled at her.

"You don't own this playground, Noel," she replied, not even bothering to turn around and look at him.

"So what if I don't own it? No one wants you here. No one ever plays with you. You're seven years old and you don't even have one friend. It's sad," he walked around to face her.

"Leave me alone," Paige's voice cracked as she tried holding back her tears. Noel smirked and kicked down her sandcastle, sending sand flying straight into her eyes. Her hands flew to her face immediately and she sprung to her feet in search of the nearest water fountain. It took her almost twenty minutes for the pain to go away. Glumly, she pulled her bike from the rack and continued riding down the road until she came to a stop outside of the Rosewood Cemetery. She glanced at it before going across the street to the market, buying a rose, and making her way back across to the entrance.

Unlocking the gate, she slipped in practically unnoticed by the groundskeeper. The walk felt longer this time, but she knew that it was always the same and it would always be the same. She stopped in front of the gravestone, sitting down with her head hung.

"Hey mom," she sniffled softly. "I'm having a bad day again. Noel Kahn won't let me play on the playground anymore. This is the third time he's kicked sand in my face this month. It hurts so much…" she twirled the rose by its stem in her fingers. "I bought you a flower. I remember you telling me red roses were your favorite. There my favorite now too, you know. I even painted one for art class. I wish you could see it. I got an A!" Paige smiled, resting the rose against the cold stone slab. "I miss you... I miss you a lot. Sometimes I miss you so much that I want to cry. But I remember you telling me that you didn't want me to cry, that you wanted me to stay strong for dad. Well, I'm trying my hardest, but I think dad found something to help him stay strong. He takes me to church now, which I don't really understand, and he has me praying every night before I fall asleep. I'm not sure if there's really a God out there, because if there was, he wouldn't have taken you away from me." Paige can feel the tears form, but clenches her eyes tightly to keep them at bay. "It's not fair." She stands angrily, brushing the dirt off her knees and placing her hand on the stone. "I'll be back next week. I love you," she says quietly before walking away, turning her head to watch a few autumn leaves blow in the window, and she swears she almost hears her mother saying back:

"I'll be waiting, as always. I love you to, Paige."

* * *

Of course, the first day of middle school would start on her birthday. Paige unhappily grumbled as she walked into first period, sitting in the back of the room waiting for everyone else to file in. She tugged on her sweater, the ugly argyle print mocking her from below.

"Stupid dad," she mumbled to herself, "stupid dad for making me wear this." Paige found argyle print to be absolutely atrocious, and the fact that her dad not only insisted that he pick out her outfit for today, but decided that she would wear _this_ abomination of a sweater, was starting off her day poorly. She sighed, opening her notebook so that she was prepared when the teacher wrote the warm-up on the board. She started to zone out, staring ahead at the white board before an angry voice stirred her thoughts.

"You're in our seats."

Paige turned her head to see Spencer Hastings, facing away from her and angrily staring down the poor soul who decided to get in her way to day. '_Good luck_', she thought, hoping that whoever it was Spencer was talking to made it out alive.

"Excuse me? What do you mean _your seats_?" a girl squeaked out.

"I came to orientation yesterday and I reserved those two seats for Hanna and I."

"Uh, I don't think you can reserve seats in class," another girl said sarcastically. Paige smirked; thinking whoever this was had to have been crazy for talking like that to Spencer. She turned around in her seat to seek out the voice, and when her eyes met the owner, she was sure her heart had stopped.

The girl had tan skin and dark brown hair, almost black. She was wearing a tight orange shirt and a white skirt with a multi-colored woven bracelet around her right wrist. Her eyes looked like they were made out of pure melted chocolate, and she going faintly make out a tint of scarlet in them. Suddenly, the girl's gaze shifted and they locked eyes; only for a split second before Paige ducked her head, a blush spreading profusely across her cheeks.

What was happening? She hadn't even spoken to the girl, yet she was already so enticed by her it was astonishing. She thought about turning around to look at her again, until a sharp voice cut through her ears like sheet metal.

"You're right, I am really cool."

Alison DiLaurentis.

Paige had completely forgotten that Alison would be attending this school. Now she had to have first period with the girl. Just being in the same state was torturous enough for Paige.

"Great, McCullers is in this class," she heard Alison say to someone, most likely Spencer. She turned her head slightly, not wanting to give Alison her full attention, and rolled her eyes.

"Who's McCullers?" she heard the beautiful girls' voice ask.

"Trust me, Emily," Alison said, "you don't want to know."

* * *

Paige spent most of her middle school days admiring Emily Fields from afar. She was mesmerized by her movements in the water; it was like Emily was born to be in it, like she claimed more and more of it with every stroke of her arms and power kick of her legs as her own.

There was another type of admiration for Emily outside of the water that Paige couldn't quite put her finger on. The girl herself was utterly stunning, with a winning personality that would just melt your heart. Paige spent an inordinate amount of time just looking at the other girl: the way she bit her lip when she was thinking hard or confused, how she wiggled her hips ever so slightly when she was excited, or how she would spend numerous minutes peering out the window during class with a perplexed expression.

Paige was glad that she could spend time secretly studying the girl and know that nobody was able to see her do it.

Or, so she thought.

In ninth grade one day, Paige was walking back to her locker from swim practice with a few of her teammates. She remembered that she had left her Biology text book in her locker, so she excused herself from the group to retrieve it. Upon pulling out her textbook from its respectful place wedged between to binders, a small envelope fell from her locker. Curious, she picked it up, read the neatly written "Paige" on the back in script writing. She broke the seal, pulling the letter out and unfolding it, reading its contents.

"_Have you ever felt like you had something good, but it wasn't enough? That there was always something missing? Well, that's how I feel when I look at you, and when I look at Ben. I always feel like Ben isn't enough for me, but when I look at you, my body goes into overdrive and I can't help the way react. Sometimes, I have these powerful dreams and you're in them, doing things to me, saying things to me... but I know they're not really happening. I want them to be real, but there not._

_Paige, I know that you watch me, and that you look at me often, which is why I must ask you if you feel the same way. Have you ever those dreams or feelings towards me? Or felt like when you look at me your body gets all tingly?_

_I want you to tell me how you feel, and be honest. But I need you to write it in the form of a letter. Ben's noticing how I'm pulling away and that I spend more time looking and talking about you than I should, and I think he's becoming suspicious. Don't put it in my locker; Ben and I share it and I know he'll open and read it. By tomorrow, I want you to leave your letter taped under the sign outside of the Grille, and then I'll know your answer._

_-Emily Fields_."

Paige could feel her body heat rise, her cheeks down to her chest flushed with these new emotions from this new information that her brain was processing. Emily felt this way? About her? She couldn't tell if she was excited or terrified. Deciding on the latter for her emotion for now, Paige left the school in a hurry and biked her way home.

The fresh air did some good for clearing her head. She was able to process more clearly what Emily meant behind her words, and thought about how sometimes she would let her mind wander off about Emily a little _too_ far.

She hopped off her bike once it was in the driveway, hastily opening her front door and bolting up her stairs into her bedroom. Grabbing her notepads from her dresser drawer along with a pencil, she sat down at her desk and wrote her reply.

"_Emily,_

_Sometimes, I do feel the same way you do. You always seem to have this effect on me that I can't quite pinpoint. But doesn't it feel wrong that you're feeling for me what you should be feeling for Ben? I'm beyond flattered, and I'm ashamed to say that yes, I often have dreams about you that I shouldn't be having and I spend a long time think about what would happen if my dreams actually came true? Or your own? Do you ever wonder that? Because I sure do._

_I want to know how you feel about something actually happening between us. Just write me back whenever you get a chance._

_-Paige McCullers_"

Paige folded the letter, quickly making her way to her dad's office and finding an appropriately sized envelope that would hold the letter and sealed it shut. She delicately wrote Emily's name on the back and made her way back up the stairs before undressing to take a shower, for in a few hours she was to have family over and she wanted to be clean when that time came.

Sitting at the table that night along with her father's parents and his brother's family, Paige was uneasy. She couldn't keep Emily off her mind or out of her thoughts. Thinking about how soft Emily's skin would feel underneath her finger tips and how it would taste between-

"Paige, sweetie, are you alright?" her Aunt asked, breaking her train of thought.

She looked up from the corner of table. "Yeah, Aunt Melissa, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, first, you've been staring at the table for the past ten minutes with this intense facial expression, and second, you look rather flushed. Are you feeling ill?"

Her spine stiffened. "No, I... I just have a lot on my mind, is all. School and stuff, you know?" Paige answered, doing as best as she could to maintain a steady tone.

In the open room next to them, the television was still on, the news blaring loudly. Her family openly discussed politics, with them all being of the same party, they wouldn't offend each other. They were all very conservative, and they weren't very open to change.

"Today in California passed Prop 8, which placed a constitutional ban on same sex marriage within the state, stating that 'only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California'," came the hearty voice of the news anchor.

"Damn right," her grandfather said. "Finally, they're doing something about these gay people. It might only be in California for now, but it's at least a start."

Paige nearly choked on her spoonful of peas.

"Exactly," her father said, "it's absolutely disgusting to see two men or two women be together when it clearly states that in the bible that homosexuality is a sin."

A collective round of agreements could be heard from around the table.

"I mean, it's bad enough that Paige is exposed to it daily in school," her father continued on.

"I don't really see the problem," Paige said quietly. Everyone at the table turned to stare at her. She felt another unreasonable heat along with the intense anger and fear that she was feeling.

"What do you mean?" asked her grandmother.

"All due respect, grandmother, I really don't see why you all think it's a big deal. I mean, if it's not involving you directly, I don't see why it bothers you that two men or two women love each other."

Her father stared at her like she had grown an extra head.

"Paige Anne," her grandfather began, "do you believe it is okay for this to happen?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Young lady, I would expect you to know better. Homosexuality has gone against everything you were raised to believe and everything you were taught about how marriage is only between a man and a woman. It's religiously and morally incorrect and it goes against everything this country was built on. And how do you expect them to reproduce, or raise a family? The embarrassment of a child coming from gay parents must be horrendous! Think about it; how would you feel if you were the child of two gay parents?"

"I actually wouldn't mind if-"

"And then talk about what else would happen if they legalized gay marriage! It would be opening the door for so many horrible things to soon become legalized. I mean, if you're going to legalize same-sex marriage, you may as well legalize sex with animals! It's an atrocious act, and I would never vote for anyone who believes otherwise!"

Another collective round of agreements passed around the table.

Paige was suddenly feeling overwhelmed. She was angry, disgusted, shocked, speechless and sad all at one time. Being in the same room with all of these people along with her emotions was making it hard for her to even breathe.

"You know, Aunt Melissa, I am feeling a little under the weather. Dad, may I be excused? I would like to go and get my rest," Paige said, standing up an leaving the room before her father had even had a chance to respond. Once she was up a few stairs and out of everyone's sight, she sprinted into her room, slamming the door and locking it behind her. She leaned her back against it, placing a hand over her mouth and sliding down to a crouching position, not even bothering to wipe the tears that saturated her cheeks.

* * *

The pedals on her bike could not move any faster, and Paige was beginning to think that it would be too late by the time she got there.

She pulled up to the Grille, resting her bike on the kickstand, walking over to the sign and hesitantly placing it underneath. She heard some faint snickering behind her, and loud footsteps approaching. She turned around, seeing no other than Alison DiLaurentis coming towards her. The other girl's eyes darted from her to the letter under the sign, reaching out for it.

"No, no, no, no!" Paige said, putting her hands up protectively.

"Do you want me to deliver this to Emily?" asked Alison with a smirk. "I probably should, since I was the one that wrote to you."

Paige's heart stopped. All the blood flooded from her brain and all movement around her seemed to slow until it was like she was frozen in time. Her mouth hung open, unable to form words as she watched Alison take the letter from its resting place. She felt the tears forming in her eyes as she watched helplessly.

"Should I open it here, or should I just forward it to daddy?" Ali continued. "Is he still that big old deacon at the church?"

"Give it to me," Paige said harshly, reaching out for it only to have it be pulled away by Alison.

"Aw, why should I? I'd much rather watch your daddy blow up when he finds out you wanna slip-"

"Give it to me!" Paige yells, not caring who around hears.

"Think again, Pigskin. I own you now!" Alison turns and walks away, the letter I her hand, and gets into a silver buggy. Paige can only watch in a shocked dazed as Alison and the driver pull away.

* * *

The tormenting was only getting worse, day by day.

Alison would say words to her, words that she's never think that would be associated with her, and dug a hole deeper and deeper into Paige's mind that twisted and turned her feelings around so now did she not only hated Alison, but she also herself.

Paige was unable to look in the mirror anymore without feeling ashamed.

She avoided everyone's gaze and became very avoidant and secretive around her father, who grew increasingly worried.

When Paige was alone in her room, or alone anywhere in general, she couldn't help but think about what she was, about what she was feeling. She was so disgusted with herself and her feelings and that she couldn't stop the monster inside her from attacking her, that she finally decided to try and kill him from the outside.

It started off as scratches, mainly. She would scratch and dig at her skin until she felt satisfied with the burning sensation that came along with it.

It soon wasn't enough to quell the beast, so Paige began to try different ways to her herself.

Paige spent numerous amounts of money on pencil sharpeners and disposable razors every few months that she wasn't able to save up for anything else. She would long periods of time taking them apart and digging them into her skin. It started out on her biceps, figuring that it would be an easy place to hide them, since she didn't wear many taking tops, but it eventually traveled across her body, from her collarbones, across her stomach, and down her thighs just above the knees were covered in deep, bloody cuts and scrapes in the skin. She stopped wearing shorts and t-shirts. Paige avoided looking at herself on any reflective surface when she was naked, for even the sight of the marks on her skin were enough to send her into a relapse.

Paige tried her hardest to stop hurting herself, she really did. But all it took was one glance in the mirror, or one word from Alison and it was starting all over again: the blood, the clean-up, the intense itching at her skin and scratching the wounds to keep them from heeling.

One evening, after a particularly bad day at school, Paige had had enough. She had spent her emotions and now she was numb completely; from her mind to her soul. She no longer felt anything. There was nothing for her to feel and the constant need to hurt herself drove her mad.

She went to her father's medicine cabinet, tears streaming down her face, and grabbing his bottle of sleeping pills. She placed them in her bathroom before heading to the laundry room, grabbing the bleach and heading back to the bathroom.

Closing the door behind her and locking it, she grabbed the pills from the counter, placing them in front of her on the floor, grabbed a plastic cup from under the sink and say down on the floor. She unscrewed the top of the bleach and poured some into the plastic cup.

'_This is it. It will all be over soon. No more feeling this way. No more cuts, bruises. No more Alison_.'

She dumped four pills into her hand and placed them onto her tongue, lifting the cup up to her lips. But suddenly she stopped.

If she did this, offed herself, then Alison would win. It would prove to Alison that she could easily get rid of the people that she didn't want around.

Paige didn't want that. She didn't want Alison to have any self-satisfaction.

She hurriedly spit the pills into the toilet and dumped the bleach along with them. She flushed, watching them spin around and around until they disappeared. She stood, taking in her state as she looked at herself in the mirror. She studied her features as how sad her eyes looked.

"I won't let you win, Alison," Paige said aloud.

* * *

Paige stretched, the uncomfortable seat on the train straining her muscles, which already ached enough from her long swim practice the day before. She rubbed the back of her neck slowly, watching as passengers were starting to gather their belongings and stand up.

"Have a nice trip, Paige?" Dorothea asked with a smile.

Paige smiled back. "I had some dreams that weren't pleasant, and this chair isn't the most comfortable, but it wasn't as horrendous as I thought."

"Good, I'm glad to hear," Dorothea smiled. She and Paige talked casually as they gathered their things and files out if the train and out into the station.

"It was nice to meet you Paige," Dorothea said, fixing the scarf around her neck.

"The feeling is mutual, ma'am."

"I hope our paths cross again. Give your girlfriend my best wishes."

"As do I, and thank you, I will pass along the word."

The two women smiled at each other before Paige turned away, hulling her luggage away as she looked around the station for a sign of the familiar skin tone or dark hair or-

Those eyes.

They locked eyes from across the room and Paige couldn't comprehend what was happening as she watched Emily run towards her, everyone around her slowing down until it felt like it was only the two of the in the station. She was suddenly aware of the hands tangled in her hair and the soft lips crushed against her own as she pulled Emily's bod against her by the waist, feeling the hit tears soaking her cheeks and the rapid beating of their hearts in their cheats.

Emily pulled away after what seemed like an eternity, resting their foreheads together an looking into Paige's eyes, her face breaking out into a goofy grin as she laughed and pulled her girl's face closer and placing little kisses on her lips between giggles of excitement.

"_I've missed you, Paige_."


	5. Day Five: He's Cute

**A/N: Here's a goofier chapter of the story, and I came up with idea in the gym today! I had planned this story out a few days ago, but this idea just came to me on the treadmill so I just had to write it! It was brilliant! Or, at least I think so. I'll try and have day six and seven posted tonight as well, but I most likely will have seven posted tomorrow, because I really my idea for that story and I haven't finished it yet. But, here is day five, the prompt being Paily as Parents. Thank you for all the lovely feedback on the last chapter on here and on tumblr. It really makes me happy that I was able to reach out to some of you through my writing, which is what I strive to do. Let me know what you think of this chapter, and I'll see you soon!**

* * *

**He's Cute**

**Pairing:** Paige/Emily

**Rating:** K+

**Words: **1,999

"Em, you have everything packed and ready, right? You've left nothing behind that we'll have to turn around and pick up? We have to be at the school in a few minutes, and you're already making us late!" Paige shouted from the bottom of the staircase.

"I think so babe, but I'll double check since I'm up here anyway," Emily responded, walking to the top of the stairs to nod to her wife before disappearing into the bedroom. She was sure she had everything. She packed her toothbrush, her clothes enough for a week-long visit, her shoes, deodorant, phone charger and wallet. Emily took one last glance around the room and realized that she had left her phone lying on the comforter of their neatly-made bed, chastising herself in her mind for being so forgetful enough to leave her phone behind, and left the room, heading downstairs to help Paige load the car. Her wife handed her their daughter's suitcase and she carried it out to the car, placing it in the trunk before walking hand-in-hand with Paige back into the house to grab the keys from the counter.

"You nervous?" Emily asked tugging Paige closer by the hem of her shirt, wrapping her hands around Paige's waist as her wife cupped her cheek, slowly caressing it with her thumb.

"A little. I mean, we haven't back to visit our parents since Eloise was seven. It's been ten years since we've been home for Christmas. I know that we won't be able to hear the end of how "oh, we're so old and we won't last much longer, you three need to visit more often!" Paige shook her head as Emily giggled. "And I know my father's going to have something to say to me about becoming an author instead of going into economics like he wanted me to… _again_."

"You're thirty eight years old and you still listen to what your father says?" Emily asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, he's very persistent in proving a point," she smiled lightly, pulling Emily's face closer, pressing their lips together in a slow, opened-mouth kiss. The kiss grew more heated, Emily running her tongue across Paige's bottom lip, but Paige pulled away suddenly, leaving Emily's lips lonely with a frustrated groan escaping them.

"Come back…" Emily whimpered.

"As much as I would love to spend the next few minutes making out with you like a drunken teenager, we're already running behind schedule, and we'll miss our flight if we don't hurry and pick Eloise up from school," Paige whispered against Emily lips, placing one last chaste kiss before pulling away and jogging excitedly out the door. Emily shook her head in amusement, grabbing her keys off the kitchen counter and exiting their home, locking the large front door behind her.

* * *

"C'mon, let's go, soccer mom! Move your damn minivan before I shove my foot up your-"

"Em, jeez, calm down. She'll move when she's ready."

"Don't give me that!" Emily glared at her wife. "You're the one who was rushing us, and now this woman wants to take her sweet old time picking up her 100 children!"

"Babe, calm down. She's only picking up two. Stop yelling before Eloise gets here."

"Fine," Emily huffs, rubbing her temple with her free hand to attempt to quell her headache of frustration.

Pulling up into the pick-up lane of the high school, Emily drove closer to the entrance, spotting her daughter on the main staircase.

"Look, there's Eloise," Paige said happily. "I'll text her to let her know that-" Paige stops short hears her wife gasp, looking up from her phone to see her daughter kissing a boy, and then gasping herself, placing a hand over mouth and exchanging looks of shock with her wife. They stared as the kiss lingered. As Eloise turned away from the handsome boy on the steps, she immediately froze in horror as she realized her mother's parked close enough to witness the entire thing.

"Babe, are you okay?" the boy asked. "You look ghastly pale."

"Go, run, escape," she turns back around to him.

"What? El-"

"Avery, seriously go! My moms saw me, and they're going to flip!"

"What?! I thought you told them?"

"It… must have slipped my mind. Now, go, seriously, before they strangle the both of us!"

"Call me?" he asks with a smile.

"Yes, of course," she bolts down the stairs, turning around to call back to him, "I love you! Tell your family I said hi!"

Emily and Paige watched Eloise approach the car, their daughter avoiding their gazes at all costs. Even when she got in the car, Eloise turned her head to face out the window. Paige and Emily shared a look, before turning around to face their daughter.

"Who was-"

"Mom, shut up," Eloise cut off Paige. "Just drive," she directed her attention to Emily, who slowly turned around and pulled out of the parking lot.

About twenty minutes down the road, the silence was threatening to blow up the entire car. Paige had had enough, and turned around to face Eloise.

"He was cute," she said with a smirk.

"Mom…" Eloise blushed profusely.

"He was! Although, I don't like the idea of him kissing my daughter, I might need to go have a chat with him." Emily covered her mouth to hide her cheeky grin as she listened to her wife tease their daughter.

"Mom! Please, don't!"

"Well, as much as I'd love to, I don't even know the poor kid's name."

"It's none of your business," Eloise said sternly.

"It is if he's kissing my daughter without me knowing!" Paige smiled widely. "What is it? I bet it's something cute, like Luke."

"Or Michael," Emily added with a smile.

"Or John."

"Or Kevin."

"Or Harold!"

"Harold, Em? That's not even a remotely attractive name."

"What? Maybe his parents punished him with a ridiculous name to make up for him being so handsome."

"I'm just glad we didn't have a son, because you would not be allowed to name him if you think Harold is a socially acceptable name for this generation."

"Mom! Mama! Stop it!" Eloise covered her hands with her face to hide her intense blush, although it didn't do much good. Emily and Paige laughed together in the front seat.

"Awe, Ellie-wa, you know we're just teasing," Emily called her daughter by her childhood nickname just to embarrass her.

"You know I don't like it when you call me that."

"I know," she replied cheekily.

"Nice," Paige fist bumped her wife.

"You two are such dorks," Eloise mumbled from the backseat.

* * *

As they approached the airport, they dropped Paige off with their luggage so she could go check it in for them while Emily and Eloise drove to find a parking spot. Emily looked at her daughter in the rear-view mirror, who seemed to have a facial expression that Emily couldn't quite register.

"So, how's your band going?" Emily asked curiously. Elosie looked up from the floor, the sunlight reflecting off her face, illuminating her many freckles and deep brown eyes, making her hair black shimmer in the light.

"It's okay," she responds quietly. "But, I'll need to go in to get my keyboard fixed when we come back from Rosewood. A few of my keys are broken."

"Oh, okay," Emily said, her heart breaking at the sadness she saw in her daughter's eyes. "Honey, I'm sorry if mom and I upset you. We were only teasing."

"I know it's just…" she trailed off.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Emily asked. After driving around for a bit longer, she finally found a few open spots, pulling into a parking space. She unbuckled her seat belt and crawled into the backseat, sitting next to Eloise. Eloise turned, wrapping her arms around Emily's waist and snuggling into her body while Emily gently combed through her hair with long, slender fingers. "You can tell me anything, you know."

"His name is Avery," Eloise spoke softly.

"Good start. At least it's not Harold." She felt Eloise chuckle against her stomach.

"I wanted to tell you guys about him, I really did," Eloise said, leaning her head back to look at Emily in the eyes.

"Why didn't you?"

"I didn't think you'd understand."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you and _mom_…"

Emily was confused for a few moments before it clicked, letting out a slow 'Oh' of understanding.

"Yeah," Eloise spoke again.

"Sweetie, just because your mother and I are gay, doesn't mean you are, or will ever discover that you are. We love you just the way you are, no matter who you like."

"I just thought you'd want me to be gay just like you two."

"No, no, don't even think that for a second," she kissed Eloise's forehead. "We only want you to be yourself. We don't want you to be gay if you're not. There's no rule stating that if you're born to gay parents that you automatically have to be gay yourself."

Eloise laughed a little. "I just didn't want to disappoint you guys."

"The only way you've disappointed me is keeping this boy a secret from your mother and I. If you would have told us, we would have been more than happy to talk about Avery with you. The both of us would still love to talk about boys with you, and we can still give you advice. I just want you to be honest with us, so I don't have a heart attack the next time I see you kissing someone I've never met." The both of them laughed. "If you want, when we get back next week, you can invite Avery and his parents over for dinner at our house."

"Really?" Eloise asked excitedly.

"Of course baby girl. C'mon, let's get out and you can tell me more about Mr. Avery." The two of them exited the SUV and walked together, linked at the elbows, to the shuttle bus stop that would take them to the airport. They stood in silence as the waited to board the bus, and took seats together in the back of the bus. "So," Emily broke the silence, "how long have the two of you been seeing each other?"

"A… few months…"

Emily quirked an eyebrow. "How many is a few?"

"Uhm… six?" it came out as more of a question.

"Eloise McCullers!"

"Mama!"

"You've been dating this boy for six _months_ and-"

"I know, I know, I'm so sorry. I was just scared to tell you. Trust me, when Avery found out I hadn't told you two yet he almost had a heart attack."

Emily blushed as a few questions ran through her mind. "…Have you two…"

Eloise looked at her mother, confused for a few moments, before she let it settle in. "Oh, OH! Gross, no mama! We haven't!"

"Ellie-wa, I have to ask-"

"You can't call me that and ask me questions like that, it makes it worse!"

"Okay, Okay, I'm sorry!" Emily threw her hands up in defense as her daughter stared at her incredulously. "But, when you two do decide that it's time, I want you to talk to me first."

Eloise's blush covered her entire face now. "I don't think I want to talk you about that."

"Well, tough, because you're going to."

"Mama…"

"Don't you 'Mama' me, Eloise. You kept this boy a secret from me long enough and I don't want you to keep anymore secrets like that from me anymore. Or mom, either. Deal?"

"Ma-"

"Eloise."

"Fine, deal, okay? Can we stop talking about… sex now?" Eloise's voice lowered to a whisper.

Emily smirked victoriously. "Okay sure. But I hope you know, Mom won't be so calm about this. She'll probably be even worse."

"Oh god," Eloise buried her face in her hands, and Emily rubbed small, comforting circles on her back.

"Let's just hope she doesn't murder the poor boy before you ever see him again, though."


	6. Day Six: Pep Talk

**A/N: So, I really didn't know what to write for this. I was having a hard time coming up with ideas, so I decided to make it a little scandalous. It's probably not as good as the rest, but I hope it'll hold you over for Day Seven, which is going to be all sorts of awesome. **

* * *

**Pep Talk**

**Rating: **T

**Words: **807

'_Focus, Paige._

_All you have to do is focus._

_These nerves are nothing. You're an incredible swimmer.  
_

_You can do this._

_Can you do this?_

_Fuck! Don't second guess yourself._

_You're fans are watching, waiting. You can disappoint them. They've been counting on you, waiting for you all year to finally be able to claim this pool as your own as you rip through the water. They want to see you win your first Olympic gold._

_Your family wants that, too, for you to win. Sure, if you do lose, they won't be as disappointed as your fans will be. They'll still be supportive either way._

_But, isn't that their job? To be supportive. I mean, it's kind of obligated..._

_Focus! Focus! You can't be off your game, McCullers. There's so much on the line: your dignity, your future careers. Even just your name is on the line._

_Maybe it's just your nerves._

_Splash some cold water on your face, Paige. That'll sharpen your senses, right?_

_..._

_That did absolutely nothing._

_Great, now I'm nervous and starting to loose feeling in my cheeks._

_Something is going to happen, it always does._

_But, coach asked me to anchor, so I can't be that horrible._

_I'm not horrible, I'm fantastic._

_Yeah, yeah, keep up the enthusiasm! You can do this!_

_It's only the Olympics._'

"It's only the Olympics, McCullers," Paige said aloud, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. She was the last one in the locker room, the rest of the team having filed out and getting ready to perform. She was all alone; the only thing with her was her racing mind that was going a mile a minute. Paige looked at herself in the mirror. She was adorned in the U.S. team swimsuit, her cap and goggles in hand. "You can do this."

"McCullers, you in here?" her coach called from the entrance.

"Yeah, coach, I'm in here," Paige responded, not taking her eyes off herself in the mirror. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, only to feel strong arms wrap around her waist, and she instantly relaxed into the touch, a small smile creeping onto her face.

"I told you 1000 times, Paige, you don't have to call me coach in here. It's weird."

"Yeah, well, Em, it is weird," she chuckled. Emily kissed Paige behind her ear, nuzzling the side of her head with her nose.

"Only if you make it weird, baby."

"I bet you say that to all your players."

"No, that made it weird," Emily laughed, spinning Paige around, pushing a lock of hair behind her ears. "But I only say that to you, I promise." Emily gave Paige her award-winning smile, which usually melted Paige on the spot, but she only responded with a tight smile. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Paige ducked her head down, a sad look on her face. "…What if I lose? Or mess up? I would ruin it for everyone."

"Paige, look at me," Emily said, placing her hands on her girlfriend's shoulders. Paige looked up slowly, not wanting to meet Emily's gaze. "You are an amazing swimming, and I'm not just saying that because you're my girlfriend and I have to. You. Are. An _amazing_ swimmer, Paige McCullers. You're one of the best in the country, or otherwise, you wouldn't be swimming for the United States, representing them in the Olympics. Paige, you're here because your skill has outdone every other swimmer in this country, and yet you still question your ability. You've trained harder than anyone I've ever seen, even me. And I don't tell people they're better than me too often, it ruins my self-esteem."

Paige smiled. "You really think that?"

"It doesn't matter what I think, those are the facts. You," she took Paige's hands and placed them on her hips, "will destroy your competition." Emily leaned closer, placing a kiss on Paige's lips, starting out slow, then gradually heating it up, running her tongue across Paige's bottom lip, asking for entrance. Paige parted her lips, letting Emily massage her tongue with her own. All worry had disappeared completely from Paige's mind, leaving it filled with thoughts of nothing but Emily.

Reluctantly, Emily pulled away, knowing that she had done her part in clearing Paige's mind. Paige's breath caught on her throat as she opened her eyes seeing Emily smile, not even noticing her own smile creeping up on to her face.

"Now, you have a race to win, and when you do win-"

"_If_ I win-"

"_When_ you win, we'll have much to celebrate," Emily raised an eyebrow suggestively.

Paige blushed. "…okay.. I think I'm ready."

"You _think_?"

"I am."

"Are you?"

"I am!"

"Are you sure?"

"I am! I'm ready! Let's do this!" Paige cheered, running out of the locker room with her fist held in the air.


	7. Day Seven: Cliché Banter

**A/N: Okay! Here is the last installment for Paily week. Sadly, it has come to an end, but it won't stop me from writing more Paily stories in the future. I have more ideas that I've begun creating and planning out stories for. So look out for me in the future! I'm really excited about this chapter, and I had so much fun writing it. I was hoping it would be sort of a cool thing to write about, since I don't think I've seen any story like this one yet. I won't keep you waiting! So, here it is, Day Seven of Paily week, the prompt being **_**Superheroes**_**. And OH MY GOD THE WINTER PREMIER THAT WAS AMAZING.**

* * *

**Cliché Banter**

**Rating: **T

**Words: **3,805

"Babe, are you awake?"

Paige heard a small groan from the bedroom. She walked from the kitchen, grabbing her mug from the counter. She opened the door to the room, smiling lightly at the hair splayed across the white pillow cases, her body curled into a ball underneath the thick covers. Paige walked over, sitting at the end of the curled ball, placing her hand gently on top of it.

"Em?"

"Don't go…" Emily said hoarsely.

Paige smiled sadly. "Baby, I have to go into work today. I'm so far behind and I feel bad for leaving my assistant with all of my paperwork. I wish I could take another day off to take care of you, but I can't. But, I promise to be home no later than one o'clock." Paige lifted her hand to place against Emily's forehead. "Em, you're burning up. Have you taken your medicine yet?"

Emily opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a quiet, pained whimper.

"I'll go get you some water. I'll be right back, okay?" Paige stood and left to go to the kitchen, leaving Emily to miss the comforting heat next to her. Paige entered the room once more, and Emily managed to pull herself into a sitting position. "Here," Paige held out her hands, handing Emily a pill and a glass of water. Emily took them both carefully, placing the pill in her mouth and taking a large swig of the water. Her face twisted into a grimace of pain, the hardness of the pill irritating her already sore throat.

"Have… fun at work…" Emily said slowly.

Paige kissed her on the forehead and laughed lightly. "As much fun as being a Criminal Defense attorney is, I'd much rather be home taking care of you. Rest up, okay? You have to get better soon. Your players need you, and I would like to kiss you without the concern of contracting the flu." They both smiled. Paige squeezed Emily's hand before standing up and walking to the bedroom door. Paige turned around at the door and called back to Emily once more. "I love you."

"I… love you to Paigey…" the medicine was starting to kick in, making Emily drowsy. She heard the front door close, so she scooted back up into bed, drifting off into sleep underneath the heavy covers.

* * *

Paige got into her car, buckling up and backing out of the apartment complex parking garage and drove down the main road. She came to a stop at the intersection, dialing her assistant on her Bluetooth.

He answered a few rings later. "Paige McCullers office, this is Lucas speaking. How can I help you?"

"Hey, Lucas, it's me."

"Well well, boss lady, haven't heard from you in a while. Done playing nurse?"

Paige rolled her eyes. "Can it. I love taking care of Emily."

"How is she, anyway?"

"Wiped out. This flu is really taking a toll on her. She should be back up and fighting in a few days, though."

"Good to hear," Lucas sighed. "So, good news or bad news first?"

"Lay it on me."

"Okay, let me grab that from your office, Mrs. McCullers," Lucas covered, standing up and walking into the safety of Paige's office. She heard the open and close of the heavy metal door and then Lucas spoke up again. "The new parts won't be in on schedule."

"Damnit!"

"That's what I said," Lucas groaned. "They'll be here by no later than Saturday."

"I can't Saturday," Paige said with a frustrated sigh. "I'm going to Emily's game."

"I know, I know, I have the guys take care of assembly."

"So, then what's the good news?"

"Tsunami hasn't been around for a few days," Paige could hear the smirk in Lucas' voice and smirked on her own.

"Really? Is that so?"

"It is. So, not only have I completed your mass pile of paperwork, but Mad-Dog has also agreed to help fund our little project."

"Lucas, I think I love you."

* * *

The buzzing of Emily's phone on her dresser awoke her from her nap. She reached out for it with her eyes closed, smacking the wood a few times before coming in contact with her phone, tapping 'answer' and bringing it to her ear.

"Hel-"

"Emily, you can't be sick anymore. I'm coming over to heal you. Let us in in a few minutes," Spencer relayed quickly before hanging up.

"Good morning to you to…" Emily sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Not even a few seconds later she heard the loud persistent banging on her door. She made her way to the door slowly, cracking it open before she was rudely shoved aside by Spencer, followed by Hanna and Aria. "Please, come in," Emily grumbled.

"Christ, Em, you look awful," Hanna expressed. Aria elbowed her in the side to shut her up.

"Thanks."

"Well, I was just saying."

"Emily, you need to get better, like now," said Spencer, motioning Emily over to sit on the counter.

"Spence, you know I hate it when you use your powers to heal me. It always comes back twice as worse than before when I get sick the next time."

"You don't understand, Em. Titania has been on a crime spree!"

"You three couldn't handle it? I mean, seriously, I'm basically dead over he-" Emily was cut short when she felt Spencer's overly warm hands on her face. She could feel the sickness being lifted from her body, feeling the overbearing relief washing over her.

"There. Feeling better?"

"Sure. Now, what's going on?" Emily asked. Aria walked over, pulling a map from her bag and spreading it out on Emily's kitchen counter.

"You see all these circled places?" Aria asked. Emily nodded. "Titania has broken into and stolen inventory from all of these places that we have circled."

"The armory, the power plant, the electronics warehouse down on seventh avenue…" Hanna listed.

"Wait," Emily cute her off, pointing to a rouge circle on the far side of the city map, "did she break into… Tom's Bakery? What the hell?"

"Yeah, that even I don't understand," Spencer said, "but, whatever it is she's planning, it must be something big. You need to go after her, Em!"

"Why couldn't you three handle it!?"

"Hey, she's your nemesis!" Hanna shouted back, throwing her hands in the air.

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me. This is the only other entrance into her lair?" Emily asked, climbing across the ceiling in the sewer.

"The only one she doesn't have on lockdown yet, Em," Spencer replied, talking into her microphone. "But, hey, do you like the new earpiece I designed for you? It fits in your ear and stays hidden from anyone, plus, I can hear everything going on around you! Neat, huh?"

"Yeah, thrilling Spencer. Can this wait? I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"Okay. You're almost there. Just a few more meters north and then take a left. I'll be listening in on the other end, so just signal me if you need us."

"Got it," Emily said, crawling faster forwards. She heard muffled voices getting louder, meaning she was getting closer and closer. She got to a drainage system, seeing the light strain through the open holes in the metal cover in the middle. Emily pushed it up and over the opening, pulling herself inside and replacing it after scoping out her surroundings, making sure no one saw her. She slinked over to the large crates stacked on top of each other. Reading the side of a box, she noticed a few of them labeled as "Caution: Radioactive".

"This must be what she stole from-"

"You hear something?" one of the guards asked the other. Emily saw their shadows move closer, freezing in place. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

The guards rounded the corner, looking over at the radioactive containers. "Must have been the rats," one inquired.

"Rats make that much noise?"

"Maybe we're hearing things. We've been down here way to long, and it's getting late. Wanna make a coffee run?"

"Yeah, sure. The boss is up in her secret room anyway. She'll never notice." The two walked away, stepping into a puddle of water that leaked from a pipe above. They went to take another step, when they felt a chilling sensation consume their foot still in the puddle. Both guards were confused. They looked down, noticing that their feet had been completely consumed in ice. It slowly crept up their body, encasing everything from the chest down in a thick container.

"Sorry boys," comes a voice. The men looked around frantically, when suddenly they felt a grip on the sides of their heads. Their skulls came crashing together, hard enough to knock them both unconscious. Just then, Emily reappeared, dusting her hands off on each other, a victorious smirk on her face. She turned around, scaling the crates for a safe way up to this so called "secret room".

* * *

"Uhm, McCullers, we have a problem," Lucas said, looking up from his many monitors over to Paige, who was admiring her suit in its glass case. She turned her head; looking over her should at Lucas before quickly making her way over.

"What is it?"

"Take a look," he turned the monitor towards her. She watched as a woman, dressed in tight blue leather, smashing the heads of the two guards encased in ice.

"We have company," she said, pressing a button underneath the desk. The glass holding her suit slid open, and she took it from it confines, slipping it on while Lucas had his head turned. "Where is she?"

"She's headed this way!"

"Good, I'll meet her halfway."

* * *

Emily tip-toe quietly through the large Manor, making sure not to make a sound as she searched around for any entrance she hadn't seen before

"You know, most people knock before entering someone else's home," a voice said from behind her. Emily turned, coming face to face with Titania, who stood only a few feet away from her.

"So, we meet again."

"Ugh, god, that is really cliché. You've been gone for almost a week and you _still _hadn't had the chance to come up with a punch line that doesn't make me want to gag?"

"Coming up with quirky lines to use in banter with you is not a top priority of mine," she bit back.

"That's kind of how our relationship is supposed to work, you know. I tease you, you tease me, we fight, we break up, we kiss, and we make up. You know?"

"I don't ever remember kissing you."

"Would you like to?" Titania quirked an eyebrow.

"Thanks, but I have a girlfriend."

"_Really_?"

"What, superheroes can't be gay?"

"No, no," Titania threw her hands up in defense. "Believe me, I get that same reaction with other heroes, I would have just never guess you were. You're way too beautiful."

Emily couldn't stop the blush from creeping onto her face.

"Well well, Tsunami, didn't think I had that effect on you," Titania grabbed her wrist, pulling Emily against her body. She trailed her fingers up Emily's arm, and Emily couldn't control herself from melting into her touch. Just before it got any good, Emily's breath was knocked from her body as she was slammed down on to the ground on her back.

"Cheater!"

"There are no rules for this game," Titania smirked. She pulled her fist back and launched it forward, Emily dodging it just in time.

Emily rolled to her feet, watching as Titania cloned herself, now being enclosed with six of the same figures, not knowing which was the real one. She ducked under each fist flipping a few clones (or Titania, she couldn't tell) over her shoulder. She lunged forward, tackling one to the ground, watching as the others dissipated.

"Found you," she said, pulling water from the nearby fountain and freezing Titania's limbs to the ground.

"That was pointless," Titania started, "I'm going to break out of it."

"You should at least tell me what you have planned before you do it, though. That's a rule."

"There are none!"

"Well, there are now."

"Fine," she huffed. "If you must know, Tsunami, I'm planning on building a ray gun."

"And you called _me _cliché?"

"Oh, it's not like the others."

"What does it do, turn everyone into mindless zombies that follow you around and complete your every demand?" Emily placed a boot down on Titania's chest.

"No, but that sounds awesome." Titania broke free from her icy bounds, knocking Emily back. Before Titania could attack, Emily disappeared. She smirked. "I like a challenge."

Titania stood up straight, her black leather glowing from the nearby fireplace. '_She has a nice butt_' Emily thought, perched from above a large book case.

"Oh Tsu-Tsu, come out come out wherever you are!"

Emily climbed up the wall and onto the ceiling, carefully inching closer to the villain on the ground below her.

"My ray gun is actually radioactive. It'll be used more as a threat, though, considering it would melt someone on the spot if they were shot with it. Kind of interesting to watch, really. I already used it on a few knuckle headed guards."

Emily dropped from her spot above, landing on top of Titania, effectively rendering her helpless as she squirmed beneath Emily's tight grip.

"One would think you'd be more attentive for a super villain. And while I have you here, I gotta ask," she flipped the leather-bounded woman under her on her back, pinning her hands above her head, "why did you rob a bakery?"

Titania chuckled evilly. "What, I can't enjoy a few scones as I craft my ray gun? Just because I like people obeying my every command, doesn't mean I don't enjoy a nice pastry from time to time."

Emily was kicked into the air, being grabbed in flight and slammed to the ground, being knocked unconscious.

* * *

When she opened her eyes, she took in the sight before her. A large, deathly looking machine was aimed directly at her. Emily tried squirming away, but her arms and legs were bound to a large metal table. She craned her neck up, looking around the room for a means of an escape.

"Don't bother, Tsunami," she heard Titania call from the ledge a few feet away, "I have you strapped down tight. Now, I can have my way with you."

"Gross."

"It was a joke, lighten up. Besides, I'm sure my girlfriend would mind it if I seduced you."

Emily gawked. "Are you serious?"

"What?"

"You have a girlfriend? Like, she can actually stand to be around you to actually do those things with you?"

"Hey, you don't know me at all. Behind this mask, I'm a really lady killer."

"Take off the mask, then, and show me."

"Ha. Haha. Hahahahaha. Funny. You take off yours and then I'll take off mine."

"An eye for an eye?"

"More like an identity for an identity, but you get the picture."

"I'd love to, but," Emily tugged her arms upwards, reminding her captor that she was kind of stuck.

"Oooh, see, now I'm conflicted. If I let you loose, one of two things could happen. One, you'd free yourself and escape before I even get the chance to know you, and two," she stepped closer, close enough for Emily to see into her eyes perfectly. She hadn't realized how beautiful the villain's eyes were; they were a deep brown, and the light hit them at an angle that made them sparkle just the tiniest bit. '_Those eyes. They look familiar. __**Too**__ familiar_.' Fingers snapped in her face brought her from her trance.

"What?"

"God, were you even listening?"

"No, I was… distracted."

"I _said_, that you would actually pull off my mask instead and turn me into the police, which wouldn't be good for me."

"You'd be correct," Emily agreed.

"Good thing that isn't happening then."

Emily turned her attention back to the extremely large ray gun aimed at her, and the anxiety of her undecided death reclaimed her mind. "Are you gonna…"

Titania looked over to the gun and shrugged her shoulders. "Haven't decided yet. It's kind of, damned if I do, damned if I don't. Plus, it takes for-ev-er to heat up just to fire one time."

"You're lazy, you know that?"

"I prefer, _prolonged thinker_."

"Just let me out so I can kick your ass!"

"Tempting. Truly, it is."

"Can we bargain?" Emily asked.

"What? Bargain?"

"If you let me go, I won't destroy your gun."

Titania thought this over for a few seconds. "No." She turned her back and walked over to a desk of monitors.

Emily looked all around the room. There had to be something _somewhere_ that she could use to escape. She heard the faint droplets of water from a pipe in the distance.

'_Bingo_'.

Just then, a noise cut through her ear and created an itching feeling.

"Emily, its Spencer. Are you okay?" Emily remained silent. "Wait, Em, hold on. Let me see if I can… okay, I've hacked into her system. Look over to your left; you'll see a camera moving around." Emily looked over to her left, nodding at the camera as it turned towards her. "Okay, free yourself with that water, and I'll see what I can do to grab her attention."

She could feel the water pulsing through her veins as she collected the droplets into a puddle. Slowly, the puddle snaked its way across the floor, coming into Emily's vision. She inched it closer and closer until it was sliding up the table, resting next to her head.

"What the…" Titania was staring intently at her computer screen.

"What is it, darling?" Emily teased.

"None of your business. Don't move I'll be right back." Titania stood, dashing out of the room and slamming the large metal door shut behind her. Emily took the opportunity to move the water onto the leather belt bounding her to the table. She froze the metal locks, tugging her arm upwards until the metal snapped and her right arm was free. She reached over and unlocked her other hand belt before sitting up and unfastening the ones on her legs.

"Spencer? Can you hear me? I broke free. I need to know what damage I can do to the ray gun and have time to escape before she gets back."

"Emily? It's Hanna. Spencer had to pee, so I took over."

"Hanna, I don't think-"

"Okay, so go over to the control panel on the ray gun. It has a tiny yellow triangle painted on it. Lift it up, and pull the red wire."

Wow. Hanna knew what she was doing. She dashed over to the gun, pulling off the control panel and looking at the wires inside. She groaned frustratingly.

"Hanna, THEY'RE ALL RED!"

"Oh... well, just pull them all. Something's bound to happen."

Or maybe she didn't know. Either way, Emily reached in, taking a handful of wires and yanking them loose, sparks flying everywhere. She tossed them onto the ground and stood up, walking over to the desk full of monitors and smashing a few with her foot. The lights in the room started flashing as she continued breaking electronics.

"Okay, that should be good enough. Hanna, where's the nearest-" suddenly, and had grasped the back of her neck, slamming her face down onto the desk and holding her in place.

"I told you not to move," Titania growled.

"You're not the boss of me," Emily snorted, trying to ignore the serious headache that was threatening to take over her head.

"You've ruined my lab! I leave you alone for two seconds and this is what you do?"

"Let go!"

"No! You don't even realize what you've done! This whole place is going to blow! You ripped out the cooling wire system for the nuclear reactor in my gun!"

"Oh…" Emily didn't know what to say.

"_Oh_? _OH_? Seriously?"

"We have to get out of here," Emily tried to squirm away, but Titania held her in place.

"You're not going anywhere," she growled. But Emily had other plans. She hooked her foot underneath Titania's leg and pulled it out from underneath of her, knocking her onto the floor. She kneeled down, pinning her beneath her, her tight grip making it impossible for her to escape.

"You either leave with me, or don't leave at all," Emily shouted.

"Fine, just go! We need to get out of here!" Emily yanked Titania upwards.

"Where?"

"The roof! I have a parachute!"

"_A_ para-"

"JUST GO!"

The loud beeping from the alarm alerting them from the impending explosion rang through her ears. Emily pushed through the crumbled rubble on the ground, springing up the stairs and onto the roof. The cold, open air hit her skin, and she was immediately aware of how high in the air she was. Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted and before she knew what was happening, she was freefalling from the side of the building. She couldn't scream, she was too in shock to let any noise escape her lips. She felt hand grip her hips and then she jerked upwards, noticing that she was now slowly gliding down towards the ground.

"Titania?"

"Yes?"

"I thought that it was supposed to explode," she looked back at the large penthouse.

"Wait… me too…" just then, Titania's earpiece buzzed, and Emily heard a few words exchanged over the line.

"What happened?"

"We may have… over reacted…"

"It's not going to blow up?" Emily asked, slightly annoyed as the two of them touched the ground in a large alleyway.

"Nope. It never was, apparently," Titania shrugged. Just then, the villain's phone buzzed. "Oh crap, it's one o'clock!"

"What's so important-" Emily began, but was immediately sucked into a large gaping hole in the ground. She reached for Titania, who pulled with all her strength to bring her nemesis back to the surface, her strength was not enough, and Emily slipped from her fingers, being swallowed into the dark hole in the ground, closing up once her entire body was inside, nothing but complete blackness consumed her.

* * *

Emily awoke to the sound of keys hitting the counter and the bedroom door creak open.

"Paige?" Emily rolled onto her side, watching as her girlfriend kick off her shoes and take off her blazer, climbing into bed behind Emily and wrapping her arms around her.

"Go back to sleep, babe," Paige whispered. Emily relaxed in to the embrace, smiling softly to herself.

"Okay, I will. Good night, Titania."

Paige listened as Emily's breathing evened out, feeling her heartbeat go steady and her chest rise and fall underneath her hand.

"…Titania?"


End file.
